FOREWORD

Dear Friends,

More than ever before migrants and refugees are looking to cities for safety and opportunity. One in every five international migrants lives in just 20 cities, and 70 percent of the world’s displaced people seek refuge in urban areas. As the climate crisis and unresolved conflicts continue to push more people from their homes, this trend is only going to increase. While national governments deal with borders and visa regimes, it’s at the city level that the most immediate needs of migrants are met—whether that’s housing, healthcare, or jobs. And it’s at the city level that social inclusion is built.

Despite leading by doing, mayors have historically been excluded from national and international policy-making. In 2018, while national governments met to adopt the Global Compacts for Migration and on Refugees, our mayors had to self-organize on the sidelines to have their voices heard. Cities across the world also face systemic barriers to financial and other resources that limit their ability to deliver solutions at scale. In 2020, only three percent of all international humanitarian funding reached local actors, including cities—the target was 25 percent.

The Mayors Migration Council was founded by mayors for mayors as a direct response to these two challenges—to help mayors get a seat at the global policy table as equal decision-making partners and to unlock financial and other resources so mayors can accelerate and scale local solutions. Together, these actions will turn the Global Compacts from aspiration to reality and make a tangible difference in the lives of urban migrants, displaced people, and receiving communities.

This report presents key highlights of our work and accomplishments from 2020–2022. Over the past three years, the seed planted by our 10 founding mayors has created a movement of over 200 cities and 25 partners worldwide. This movement has influenced more than 60 global policy positions at the international and national levels, made 70 pledges to the Global Compacts through the Call to Local Action for Migrants and Refugees, and unlocked over US$23 million in international funding for cities, both by influencing international funds and by creating our own, the Global Cities Fund for Migrants and Refugees. Started as an experiment, the Global Cities Fund is now directing funding to 28 city governments improving the lives of thousands of migrants, displaced people, and marginalized communities worldwide. Throughout this work, our mayors have positioned themselves as influential players in emerging policy frontiers — from climate migration to inclusive pandemic response.

While ongoing conflict and our changing climate are growing crises, the displacement and migration they cause don’t need to be. As urban migration becomes the new normal in the years ahead, so too must cities’ access to international decision-making and municipal finance. While we recognize this type of systemic change doesn’t happen overnight, we have proven it is possible. We now call on you to help us scale our work by consulting cities, partnering with cities, and investing in cities.

I would like to thank our partners and donors for helping our small organization achieve outsized impact, our staff for their passion and dedication to our mission in uncertain circumstances, and, most importantly, our Leadership Board and other mayors who continue to welcome migrants and refugees in their own cities while showing how the rest of the world can do the same.

We look forward to working with you as we grow our movement.

Vittoria Zanuso Executive Director, Mayors Migration Council

“85% OF CLIMATE FINANCE TARGETS GLOBAL NORTH COUNTRIES. IF WE WANT TO ADDRESS CLIMATE AND MIGRATION, THE MAJORITY OF WHICH OCCURS IN AFRICA, LATIN AMERICA AND ASIA, IT IS CRITICAL WE FOCUS ON EQUITY—NOT JUST WITHIN COUNTRIES BUT ACROSS COUNTRIES.”

Who We Are

The Mayors Migration Council (MMC) is a mayorled coalition that accelerates ambitious global action on migration and displacement. With most of the world’s migrants and displaced people living in cities, our mission is to use the power of city diplomacy and city practice to create a world where urban migrants, displaced people, and receiving communities can thrive.

Created by mayors for mayors, we are a nimble team of political advisors and urban practitioners guided by a Leadership Board of global city leaders, including the Mayors of Amman, Bristol, Dhaka North, Freetown, Los Angeles, Kampala, Milan, Montevideo, Montréal, and Zürich. As a Sponsored Project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, our work is made possible by philanthropic and government funders.

What We Do

To fulfill our mission, we support mayors and the cities they lead with:

City Diplomacy to influence policy decisions on migration and displacement at the national and international level.

City Practice to unlock financial and technical resources to implement local solutions for migrants and displaced people.

Communications to raise awareness on city leadership among global audiences. Knowledge to generate and share evidence on urban migration and displacement.

Stakeholder Engagement to build a coalition of local and global champions.

Our Coalition

Our coalition includes mayors of all city sizes, geographical locations, and migration contexts. Our core city partners are organized along three tiers of engagement:

Leadership Cities serve on the MMC Leadership Board, acting as our primary ambassadors and guiding our programmatic strategy.

Action Cities actively participate in MMC core programs, such as the Call to Local Action or Global Cities Fund for Migrants and Refugees.

Coalition Cities engage in MMC diplomacy or practice activities, such as diplomatic dialogues, joint statements, technical sessions, or research initiatives.